Job 21:17-19

The Voice

¹⁷    Bildad claims the flame of the wicked is blown out.
        But how often is their lamp extinguished?
    How often does disaster strike them or does God give them pain
        because of His anger at what they’ve done?

Throughout the Bible, God is called by many names. One of the most frequent in the Old Testament, Shaddai, was a favorite name of God for patriarchs such as Abraham and Moses. Based on the etymology of the name, many suggest Abraham brought that epithet with him from Mesopotamia, so it is logical that Job (another patriarch from outside of Israel) could often refer to Him the same way.

El Shaddai, which translates to “God of my mountain” or possibly “God of might,” aptly describes many characteristics of God. He is strong and high above everything, just like the heights of a mountain. He is a protector, just like the rocky crags in the side of a cliff. And certainly God associates Himself with mountain ranges—having Abraham bind Isaac on Mount Moriah, giving the Israelites the law from Mount Sinai, and placing His sacred temple on Mount Zion. Whether speaking to humanity from the top of a mountain or the heights of heaven, the Lord is certainly the Highest One; no one is above Him.

¹⁸    How often are they as straw in the wind
        or the chaff separated from the grain by fierce winds?
¹⁹    It is said, “God stores away a man’s misdeeds
        and delivers them to his children.”^[a]
        Let Him repay the man Himself, so the man can know it.